16 Malaysian athletes hit by food poisoning at SEA Games

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: Sixteen Malaysian athletes have been hit by food poisoning at the Southeast Asian Games and one is in hospital, organisers said on Thursday in just the latest mishap to hit the competition.

Games organisers said they were still trying to identify the source of the outbreak, which forced one swimmer to miss an event on Wednesday and also affected a petanque player.

Few other details were released but, Low Beng Choo, secretary of the Games' sports and technical committee, said those affected had been asked not to compete until they recover.

“One went into hospital because we wanted to be very sure it was nothing very serious... it wasn’t as if it was an emergency. The rest of them are resting in the hotel,” said Low.